Most of you probably remember the song “I Hope I Get It” from the magical production of “A Chorus Line” where professional dancers are competing against other professionals on stage for just a part in a new Broadway musical. “Stepping Out” is nothing like “A Chorus Line”. It is a story mostly of getting out of the house and learning tap dancing in the basement of a local church . . . just to feel the joy of movement and timing.
Peggy and I were lucky to have seen tap dancer Gregory Hines perform in Olympia years ago before he died. Some people brought their tap shoes with them and Hines invited them all on stage to dance with him. Dancing is a release and a joy. You will experience that joy from “Stepping Out.”
Director Jennifer York says “Stepping Out” is really about courage. It’s about choosing to actively face the obstacles that life throws our way and not only a certain fortitude, but with panache. Our characters come once a week to this unlikely sanctuary for comfort, solace, and escape.
Choreographer Mauro Bozzo is a prime example of tap dancing. We have seen him in numerous productions from both Tacoma Little Theatre and Tacoma Musical Playhouse and Peggy and I loved his performance at TLT in A Chorus Line (twice).
Ceili Caruso did double duty as the TMP Marketing Coordinator, and actress (Lynne) in “Stepping Out.” Cassie Jo Fastabend is a familiar face to us. We’ve seen her at Lakewood Playhouse and mostly at CenterStage where she’s appeared in a number of Panto performances and our of our favorite productions of “The Oregon Trail”.
Megan Hicks played the character Sylvia and was the dance captain. Megan directed and choreographed “Singing in the Rain” which we really enjoyed . . . especially the “Fit as a Fiddle” production. Costumer Krista Lofgren, did a great job with the clothing changes done each week.
Whitney Shafer did a great job as Maxine with hand on hip performances in weekly color changes showing she was more than just an interested tap dancer. We loved her as Sally Boles in Cabaret, and The Giver at Lakewood Playhouse. She was also a standout as Cassie in TLT’s A Chorus Line with Mauro Bozzo.
It was also good to see Lanita Hudson Walters. She has a great voice and we always enjoy hearing her sing. I would have assumed she knew how to tap dance, but she did well. Standing out as the only male in the production is Josh Wingerter. We already knew he could tap dance. He did a great job as the Master of Ceremonies in the TMP production of Cabaret and Singing in the Rain. It’s always nice seeing him perform.
Stepping Out runs through the 28th of April. Get our tickets online –
https://tmp.org/index.php/showsandtickets/
I wish I was able to read this. Maybe proofread etc before publishing. thanks.
Printing ran into some sort of problem. Things happen sometimes even with proofreading.
Don